The Week Of Decadence

This is not the dishwasher of someone who cooks. These are all the dishes we as a family of three have used at home in the past week. (Okay, not quite true...Lima used many more for her meals but they are not all dishwasher safe and I hand wash them daily.) Literally one week has gone by since I last used the dishwasher and the bottom rack just contains a few small plates and a modest amount of utensils.

This is a telltale sign of my Week of Decadence. If you're a faithful reader of this blog, you might remember the days when I published recipes and accounts of what I cooked. There were weeks when I'd post a recipe or two a day, sharing what I'd prepared in the kitchen the night before. I love to cook and bake and enjoy sharing what I'm doing with you all.

But not this week. This week was The Week of Decadence. For unknown reasons, factors kept converging that had us eating out all week. Monday was Labor Day. With Win off from work, how could we stay home? We needed to try an Italian place we'd never been to before. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were beautiful days here in Chicago...low to mid 70s and gorgeously sunny. Win got home from work and it seemed like a crime to stay inside our house and eat when the sunny patios of innumerable Chicago eateries beckoned us. So out we went. It's rare that our Lima Bean can wait to eat dinner when we do (she's usually more of a 4:30 or 5pm kind of gal), but her little stomach somehow managed this week and that also enabled us to dine out so much.

So very little cooking was done by me this week. I must say it was fun to open a menu every night and choose something delicious without worrying about the food prep before or the dishes afterwards.

But I do miss cooking. Now that The Week of Decadence is over, I'll be back to cooking more regularly and sharing recipes with you. I'm going to spend some time thumbing through a couple new cookbooks this weekend to see what strikes my fancy.